The owners of the award-winning buildings received certificates and cash prizes from Lord Mayor Frank Frühauf, and the contractors also received a certificate in recognition. A total of 22 properties were entered for the competition, with the expert jury awarding six prizes and two commendations.
"The city has been holding the façade competition under the motto 'Colorful Idar-Oberstein' since 1983," explained Mayor Frühauf. He thanked the owners who have contributed to a beautiful living environment by renovating their buildings and sees this as an incentive for others to do the same. The mayor also thanked the jury for their efforts in evaluating each individual property, the city building authority for organizing the competition and the sponsors - the building trade guild, plasterer's department and the Idar-Oberstein home and property owners' association - for supporting the competition. Mayor Frühauf also had special praise for the companies that carried out the work. "Our region would be a good deal poorer without our great tradespeople," said Frühauf. He emphasized the great importance of the skilled trades as employers and trainers. "Craftsmanship has golden soil," his grandfather had already said, "and that applies all the more today."
Dirk Thomé, technical manager of the municipal building department, then took over to present the award-winning properties and the reasons for the award. He once again referred to the competition requirements, which were met by all the entries submitted. The jury, of which he was also a member, evaluated the color scheme, the relationship of the color design to the architecture, the craftsmanship, how the building fits into its surroundings and the overall impression.
The two awards of the competition went to the very elaborately renovated residential and commercial building of the Caratum company at Hauptstraße 386, as well as to the residential building at Im Nachen 12 by Erhard Härter, which the jury recognized as a successful example of façade renovation. The work was carried out by the painting company Pfeiffer e.K. from Idar-Oberstein.
Sixth place went to Ottmar Heidrich's home at Goethestrasse 20, where the jury praised the very harmonious overall impression of the historic building, which was built in 1909. This outstanding design by the Wenz painting company from Idar-Oberstein was rewarded with 250 euros.
Fifth place went to Petra and Wolfgang Fickus' house at Am Rumpelteich 4. According to Thomé, the new color and shape design, carried out by Malerbetrieb Pfeiffer e.K., has greatly improved the building. This was worth 300 euros in prize money to the jury.
The fourth prize with prize money of 350 euros went to the building at Weierbacher Strasse 42 by Danou Rakotoson. The jury praised the fresh color design by the painting company Patrick Skulec from Idar-Oberstein. The façade design with horizontally contrasting bands leaves a more modern impression.
Third place, and therefore the bronze medal, goes to the house at Sonnenstraße 4 by Sebastian Fritsch. The façade now has the appearance of an exposed concrete surface, while the terrace and garage areas in front of the house were clad with slate bricks. The building has been given a tasteful new look thanks to the very modern façade design, carried out by the Pfeiffer e.K. painting company. The jury recognized this with prize money of 400 euros.
Second place went to the residential and commercial building at Hauptstraße 398/400 belonging to the Caratum company. The building, located on Christuskirchplatz, was built between 1968 and 1970 in reinforced concrete and masonry construction and looked very drab before the renovation. "The new colorful and fresh façade design impressed the jury members," explained Dirk Thomé. It is great that a residential and commercial building in the city center has been given an excellent upgrade in this way and enriches the cityscape with its fresh façade design. The jury awarded prize money of 500 euros for this project.
The winner of the 2021/2022 façade competition is Tanja and Hans-Peter Becker's building at Algenrodter Straße 24, built in 1860, where the stucco business Leyser from Idar-Oberstein succeeded in giving the façade a new appearance by cleverly structuring the historic façade horizontally and using profiles and ornaments to set off and highlight the entrance door and windows. "The jury was unanimous in its opinion that only first prize could be awarded for this design achievement," emphasized Thomé. This achievement was honored with a cash prize of 600.
Photos of the objects and the jury's detailed explanations can be found on the city's website at www.idar-oberstein.de/leben/wohnen/fassadenwettbewerb.